Playing music in a parade looks like fun, but while it is, it’s also hard, sometimes thankless work. OffBeat spoke with members of four nightclub bands who, during Mardi Gras, transform into street bands. Sue Ford fronts Mardi Gras’ first rock band, Pink Slip, once an all-woman group that now includes her husband, drummer Jimmy [...]
Tag Archives: Ben Schenck
Matt Perrine & Sunflower City, Bayou Road Suite (Threadhead)
May 1, 2010 – 12:54 am
New Orleans locals are familiar with sousaphonist Matt Perrine playing any style in any situation. His virtuosity brings forth the inevitable “I’ve never heard a tuba played like that” comment; then you take it for granted until you hear another tuba player. Less noticeable, but apparent to his bandmates, are Perrine’s arranging and composing chops. [...]
Ben Schenck: Undressing a C-Sharp Major
April 1, 2010 – 1:00 am
“Play me something.” It’s a gray February morning as I sit down for my first clarinet lesson with Ben Schenck. His daughter Ida, home sick from school, is asleep in the living room, and so we’ve set up our chairs in the kitchen. I ponder for a moment before launching into a solo I memorized [...]
YouTube du Jour: Panorama Jazz Band
December 29, 2009 – 12:19 pm
Panorama Jazz Band plays OffBeat’s Best of the Beat Friday, January 22 at the House of Blues. Here they are live from 2008 playing King Oliver’s “New Orleans Shout.”
Podcast: Four Minutes with the Panorama Brass Band
November 20, 2009 – 12:36 pm
Colin Jones talks with Ben Schenck of the Panorama Jazz Band after the release of this year’s Come Out Swingin’.
Panorama Jazz Band, Come Out Swingin’ (Independent)
September 1, 2009 – 12:01 am
As a writer, I understand the impulse to explain, but I often prefer the Panorama Brass Band in a parade to the Panorama Jazz Band because sometimes explanations get in the way. When I’m reminded of each song’s national origin and the folk dance or rhythm associated with it, the eclecticism sometimes seems forced, as [...]
